Joint Services Committee Regular Meeting
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
At today's Joint Services Committee Meeting, recreation and parks were the key issue for the committee, including County Chair Rhonda Wallace and Commissioner Scotty Hancock along with Mayor Jim Bojo and Commissioner Wayne Robinson. The city and county managers also participated in the talks along with key staff representatives.
Leaders from Rome and Floyd County discussed ways to strengthen our parks and recreation system for the long term. Director Todd Wofford highlighted the need for a sustainable funding model to keep our parks thriving for generations to come. Todd Wofford emphasized to city and county leaders that his department cannot take on additional parks under its current funding level. Wofford urged the Joint Services Committee to consider a sustainable, long-term funding model for recreation and parks—one that looks beyond the next year or five years.
The group learned that several parks and amenities fall outside the existing recreation agreement, including the new playground at the Mount Berry Trailhead, the proposed GE park in West Rome, Covington Park in South Rome, and the North Broad mini-park. City Manager Sammy Rich noted that Covington Park maintenance is currently handled by City Public Works crews, while the city has an agreement with John and Terri Mayes for upkeep of the North Broad Park.
Wofford also shared that pavilion rentals at the ECO Center have been turned over to ECO Center staff, but his crews still handle restroom cleaning after large events—sometimes multiple times a day.
“Raising taxes to fund these parks is not an option,” stated County Manager Jamie McCord.
Mayor Jim Bojo closed the meeting by saying the parks and recreation agreement “is not broken; it just needs some tweaking.”
The city commissioners will discuss parks and recreation at length during their planning retreat tomorrow. Members of both city and county commissions will meet again during a joint tour of park facilities on February 17.